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Chapter 924: Someone Just Had To

“You can speak up; just do so with forethought,” Vesperia added.

“I would recommend you to only speak up if you deem it absolutely necessary,” Miranda kind of disagreed. “Outside of your small opening speech, of course.”

“Do I really need to do a speech? Can’t you just do it?” Jake tried to worm his way out of it.

“No, as the World Leader, it needs to be you. Plus, it allows you to avoid actively participating in the following discussions if you don’t want to, as you’ve already made your position in the matter clear right from the get-go. Finally, we should at least show a basic level of courtesy by you directly addressing our visitors and all the leaders who are taking part in this World Congress,” Miranda continued to explain.

“There’s no need to worry; just memorize the speech as best as you can. Or, at the very least, the spirit and central message of it. You can make the words and the delivery your own,” Lillian also chimed in.

“Adding some personality would be best,” Vesperia agreed with a nod. “And allow them all to bask in your aura meanwhile. Do not actively push it to suppress them, but don’t restain it either. Let them know you are indeed the most dangerous being in the room, and make it clear that declaring you an enemy is not in their interest.”

“Indeed,” Miranda concurred too. “While the chances of individuals wishing you, I, or any of the other leaders of Earth harm are low, and we have yet to catch anyone with such thoughts, it’s still better to be safe than sorry. If you let your aura remain unconstrained, perhaps it can even help sniff out a few of those who are still dissatisfied with you. Make mental notes of these people.”

Jake slowly nodded as he tried to remember everything, as he looked at the paper on the table with the speech written on it. At the bottom, they had even included all the key points he had to go over in a concise fashion.

This meeting in Jake’s lodge was the final preparations for the World Congress, where the three women wanted to coach Jake and make sure he was ready. While this was definitely way lower stakes than stuff such as the Chosen Ceremony, Miranda still took it very seriously, and Vesperia definitely added a layer of complexity as she would also be participating. This would be her first time openly showing herself to the leaders of Earth, and first impressions were always important.

There were some potential issues they had gone over but didn’t really have the ability to prepare or safeguard against. The biggest one was who would take part in this meeting, more importantly, how damn different those participating would be, and what kind of conflicts that could give rise to.

To summarize, there would be a Unique Lifeform leading a group of monsters, vampires from the Noboru Clan, the Sky Whale representing a horde of beasts, Casper and the Risen, Jacob and the Holy Church, assassins from the Court of Shadows, Valhal, Jake himself, Arthur and “normal” humans who were still struggling with adapting to the system, former slaves of different races… and now they even had a True Royal ectognamorph in there, another very unpopular race.

It was, to put it nicely, a clusterfuck of factions where a good chunk of them were openly in conflict, with a few very unpopular races mixed in just for good measure. It felt almost inevitable that something would happen, but they hoped to suppress anyone daring to cause a scene by Jake being a scary guy, making it clear he would come down on anyone who acted like trouble-makers.

Quite the responsibility, but Jake would just have to deal with it.

“I believe that’s everything we meant to cover,” Lillian said after a brief pause. “Do also remember that the format of this World Congress is a bit different than usual.”

“True, I forgot to mention that,” Miranda nodded. “It was good you gave me permission to schedule and plan the congress. There are quite a few options for customization, and it took longer than I anticipated, especially sorting out who to invite and issuing these invites to all those who arrived on the planet after the event was planned. Not to mention planning the actual congress and its setup.”

Jake could only agree as he kept checking his paper with the speech on. They discussed a few more minor things before finally, the event arrived. Jake received his invite and quickly accepted it as he felt himself being moved elsewhere. This wasn’t just moving his soul either, but his entire physical body was teleported to the recognizable World Congress hall.

Things had changed since the last time Jake was there, though. Before, he always assumed it was in some weird system-created space that didn’t really exist anywhere, but now he knew… they were deep beneath the ground. As deep as one could possibly get, as Jake was confident:

This space existed within the Planetary Pylon.

He didn’t really have time to share this discovery as he stood on the usual platform, though it had been raised to an even higher position than before, making him stand the furthest up by far. Alongside him, Miranda, Lillian, Vesperia, Arnold, Holstred, and two more people Jake didn’t really know appeared.

Across the hall, others also began to arrive, as Jake spotted all the expected participants. He didn’t know how often this many in-conflict factions and races could be gathered in one space like this, but this had to be a pretty damn rare sight, right?

Jake also saw that the Fallen King appeared on his right while the Sword Saint popped in on his left. He saw that a familiar face had joined him as Reika stood by her great-grandfather’s side, along with quite a few vampires. Bringing several vampires had definitely been a conscious choice to “show them off,” so to say.

The Sky Whale in his human form also made his appearance, standing next to the Fallen King, with even Sylphie having decided to join him. This was another difference between the purely system-created World Congresses and the one Miranda made herself… the invited members were no longer limited to those with nobility titles or humanoids. She could invite anyone she wanted, which she clearly had, as many beasts and monsters of different sorts appeared in their humanoid form.

Arthur also appeared just one step further to the left of Jake, standing next to the Sword Saint. On another elevated position, Caleb and the Court of Shadows teleported in, showing they were also considered of high status. Now, Valhal wouldn’t get one of these elevated podiums, as they were still – at least officially – not on super good terms with Earth’s leadership after the Ell’Hakan debacle.

However, they were placed right next to the elevated platforms, proving they were at least halfway out of the doghouse. At least, that’s how Miranda had explained it… because, yes, the placement of every single faction had been a huge consideration. This was yet another reason why it was good Miranda had handled everything regarding this event because Jake would have just auto-sorted and told the system to place them alphabetically or some shit like that.

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After about a minute, everyone had arrived, and a system message appeared.

Welcome to the World Congress of Earth: Prima Guardian Preparation Strategy Meeting.

This World Congress is scheduled to discuss Earth’s approach to the Prima Guardian event. There will be no votes during this World Congress, but it shall solely serve as a strategy meeting for the upcoming event and for all participating forces to get acquainted. All privacy functions of the booths have been disabled to foster proper cooperation.

Violence is not allowed during the World Congress. The purpose of this World Congress is discussion, and outright hostile actions or threats are not permitted. While in this space and on the planet as a whole, everyone is expected to act according to the laws of Earth.

This message wasn’t actually written by the system but by Miranda and Lillian. It did seem like they had made it quite a lot shorter compared to some of the initial drafts Jake had heard about, but it definitely got the job done and set the stage with how it finished by telling everyone to act nicely.

Jake gave everyone a bit to read this message, as sadly, he was the one supposed to initiate this World Congress. Taking a breath, Jake remembered the main parts of the speech and spoke as he infused his voice with mana and let his unconstrained aura spread.

“Allow me to echo the message earlier and welcome you all to this extraordinary World Congress. I see quite a few familiar faces, some old, some new. Some who’ve acted against my own and Earth’s interests before, and some who’ve always remained allies. Know that this is not a time for grudges, and we are all here to work together for the upcoming event. Not work against one another… and if I can shelve my grudges for now, so can you,” Jake began his speech, definitely going off-script in a few minor places, but based on how Miranda, Lillian, and Vesperia looked pleased enough, he kept going.

“With that spirit, let me also clarify to all those who recently arrived: even if we are allies, at least for now, you are still guests. Act like it. This is not your home turf, even if you originated from Earth, and your factions have no power here. This planet – my planet – welcomes all who can stick to the rules, no matter their race or Path. Be they human, Unique Lifeform, Risen, vampire, beast, elemental… or even a True Royal from the Endless Empire.”

Vesperia took the cue and nodded her head to the crowd as if announcing herself, though it wasn’t really necessary. She had a unique aura around her already, and it wasn’t like her identity or appearance were a secret. During the Chosen Ceremony, she had openly shown herself, and it was only to be expected many of the factions present had received intelligence about her existence. Plenty of people had already been gawking.

Still, they were definitely surprised she was on Earth. He didn’t doubt many telepathic messages were flying at this very moment, but Jake paid it no heed as he continued speaking.

“We are all here to benefit from the Prima Guardian event, nothing more, nothing less. So, let the ideologies of your faction lie for now and work together as we seek to hunt down this Prima Guardian. Because if you don’t cooperate with our efforts, you work against us… and at that point, you shall share the same fate as the Prima Guardian. Yes, that is a threat, and don’t think, for a single second, that any faction will afford you even a moment of mercy.”

Alright, he had definitely gone a little bit off-script there, and Miranda did throw him a subtle glance as Jake decided to finish up.

“But it won’t ever come to that, now will it? Let us all hope not,” Jake said, softening the blow of the threat a little bit. “Today, our purpose is to plan out our approach to the event itself and for you to offer whatever insight your factions may have, including any speculations that are worth sharing. Hold nothing back, for we will not. Our goal for this Prima Guardian event is not merely to beat it but to do so as flawlessly as possible. Something that will surely prove mutually beneficial for all who are here, so let’s all cooperate to ensure the ideal outcome and reap the rewards in unison.”

His speech wasn’t long, but he got the important points across while even throwing in some good subtle – and not-so-subtle – threats. He had wondered why Miranda couldn’t just have said all the things he just did, but she assured him it was best Jake was the one. That way, the words would carry more weight… and they had cause if he acted upon them later.

Either way, the essence of the entire speech had been to clarify everyone was expected to work together, and that he didn’t care for whatever grudges they had. That everyone is welcome on Earth, no matter who or what they are.

“As Lord Thayne said, the goal is for us all to work together as cohesively and effectively as possible,” Miranda finally jumped in, not infusing her voice with any energy, as she already spoke more than loudly enough. All the attention also definitely remained on their platform, helped by Jake not reigning in his aura at all. Instead, he just let it hang there for them all to get used to it while putting a bit of pressure on everyone to act nice.

“I don’t believe I have to introduce anyone here, so let me just get started and not drag this out more than necessary,” Miranda began as she summoned a huge projection in the middle of the circular conference hall, showing the entire planet. “Let us begin with the current state of preparations that have already been made…”

The next part was painful for Jake to sit through. Not only was it all information Jake had already heard before, but he even had to deal with people asking questions for clarification throughout, as Miranda did a long presentation on Earth’s current status.

After some time, the Sky Whale and Fallen King also joined, with Arthur jumping in as well. Jake threw a glance toward the Sky Whale’s platform and found a sleeping green hawk on one of the chairs. He very much wanted to mimic her, but alas, he had to stand there menacingly.

Carmen, at the Valhal podium, also looked openly bored. Other people he knew who didn’t seem overly interested in politics, such as Eron, had far more neutral expressions. The guy was always pretty impossible to read, honestly.

Now, Arnold, that dude knew what was up. He was wearing glasses, and while it was hard to see, they definitely had screens on the inside. Huge respect to him for reading or watching videoes and stuff during an important meeting… really gave Jake flashbacks to work before the system.

Looking over at the other person at his old company who was the most likely to also watch videos on the internet during important work meetings, Casper managed to somehow not look bored. Perhaps he had been through a baptism of politics himself, being one of the top figures of the Risen, as he was definitely holding up well.

All in all, Jake would say things were going pretty well, even if he was bored as fuck, and soon, they were done getting everyone on the same page about where Earth was with their current Prima Guardian defense efforts. Vesperia and Arnold didn’t talk, but Miranda did make their contributions clear, and no one seemed to be side-eyeing Vesperia much, which was a huge relief to Jake. He had been afraid several factions or humans on Earth would be very against her.

Then again, she did look very humanoid, so that was probably why most didn’t have a problem.

Moving on with the meeting, the next topic was what the newcomers would be doing. Seeing as there was still a bit of time before the Prima Guardian arrived, they would definitely be put to work.

“Before we know exactly where on Earth the Prima Guardian will originate, we will designate different teams across the planet. Space mages have been working on means to quickly establish a teleportation circle so we can get everyone there quickly, but we still need powerful enough groups to handle the regular Primas that will come alongside the Guardian,” Miranda explained, everything sounding reasonable to Jake so far.

But… just when the meeting was going so damn well, everything was ruined. While Miranda was briefly touching upon some of the current plans of who would go where someone just had to do it. And, of course, it had to be someone affiliated with the damn Holy Church. It wasn’t someone who had arrived with Jacob and company, but one of the city leaders who had been left behind when they left, who used to belong to the Church and clearly still subscribed to the religion.

Perhaps he felt empowered from standing next to Jacob, or perhaps he was just an idiot… but he just had to go and do it:

“If you want anyone from my city to go anywhere near there, you need to get rid of those damn abominations first,” the man said, staring at the people – vampires - standing with the Sword Saint. “Having an enemy both in front of us and at our sides will certainly spell doom.”

Miranda had given the man the room to speak when he lifted his hand… but her eyes narrowed at what he said. That is when Jake spoke up.

“Read the rules. You get only one strike.”

The man looked perplexed at Jake and completely ignored Jacob, who was staring daggers at him. “I apologize, Lord Thayne…”

For a moment, Jake had hope.

“… but those abominations simply do not belong on-“

And just like that, he’d spoken his final words.

A brief glance, two glowing eyes, a single crumbled soul.

Everyone stood there, shocked, while the lifeless man fell forward, slamming into the ground with a thud as the whole room became silent enough to hear a pin – or, in this case, a corpse – drop.